Anaheim 3 Supercross Insider

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Saturday at Anaheim was a little unusual, since the track stayed covered as late as possible in an effort to keep it dry. Fortunately for all the riders, the covering seemed to do that job, as evidenced by the piles of mud that were scraped off the track and onto the surrounding areas. Fortunately, the rain also stayed away until halfway through the last race of the night, which made the 450 main all the more exciting.

Davi Millsaps battled the rain in Anaheim to claim his first podium of the year.

Davi Millsaps (Honda Red Bull Racing) scored his first podium of ’09, with a third-place finish, and afterwards he said, “It was a fun race for sure. It started raining towards the end and made the track really slippery and really hard to ride, but I stuck it out and me and Ivan had a really good battle that last lap in the last three or four corners.” When we joked to Davi that the battle was more a whole-race battle, than just the last lap, he said, “Well, I’m talking about gnarly. It was good the whole race, but the last three corners we were banging bars. I got screwed up with lappers. I almost landed on Hansen that one time, and that screwed me up bigtime. But it was a fun race for me, and I’m glad to be up here.”

Regarding his slow start to his season, he said, “Yeah, but it’s better than not being up here at all. We had a lot of issues from the beginning of the year all the way ‘til now, and the last couple weeks we’ve worked so hard on that bike. At San Fran my lap times started to pick up, and I come here and the bike’s a lot better than last weekend. Hopefully it’ll get better from now on.”

He also added, “It was hard to adapt, but I’m a big guy and the bike was a lot smaller. The bike’s awesome. I can’t complain, and I love my bike. I just want to thank American Honda and Red Bull Racing for sticking behind me these last races, even though I was getting tenth place. I was a top ten guy, which is not that great. But I’m glad to be up here on the podium showing everyone what I can do, and hopefully from now on I’ll get faster.”

Chad Reed has had to pass more riders this season than anyone else. He again came from behind to score second place.

Joking with second-place Supercross finisher Chad Reed (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) we suggested that with as many riders as he’s passed this season, he might get an award as the hardest-working man in Supercross. He said, “I’ve been working my butt off for the last four months. I guess that’s what you do when you become a horrible starter. (Laughs) No, it was good. I felt like I had my speed and rhythm back this weekend, and that’s important. It’s a second, but I definitely have a smile on my face and feel better about my ride this weekend. My fight, too. I felt more aggressive and more in tune with the bike. We made some great improvements in testing this week.”

As for the track, he said, “This rain was tough. That track was really, really slick. To be honest with you, that track was probably as close to any gnarly, rough outdoor track that I’ve ever ridden. So for somebody that supposedly sucks at outdoors, and doesn’t like it and is a bit of a pussy, you know, I felt like I did all right. So maybe I can ride outdoors this year, huh?”

When asked to elaborate on that one, he smiled and said, “No comment.”
James Stewart (San Manuel / Yamaha / JSE) took his fifth win in a row, and now with only one race left before the series heads east, he’s only three points out of the top spot in the series standings. “After I crashed at A1, I just said that I want to be as close as I can possibly be before we get out of California, and I love the East Coast and I’m happy about that.”

James Stewart didn't let the weather dampen his spirits as he took his fifth-consecutive win.

As for the track conditions? He said, “It changed tremendously. It was 100 percent different. You set your tires up for one condition, and then it starts raining and you know all you do is start spinning. It’s tough out front because it’s pretty much one-lined in a lot of sections and the lappers were battling. To be honest, I think it was Ivan and Davi right in front of me (at the end), so obviously they weren’t lappers.”

James did have to deal with traffic, though, which allowed Reed to catch him some at the end. “There were a couple sections that I rolled. It was tough, but that’s part of the deal. I knew all I had to do was stay up around them. I knew Chad was going to get the better end of the deal, but it was a great race. Those last couple laps were nerve-wracking because I was sliding all over the place, lappers caught up, and Chad caught up a lot, and I was still able to stick it out.”

In the Supercross Lites class, it was a Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki 1-2 again, with Jake Weimer taking his third win of the season. But things got very close at the end, when Jake had trouble with a lapped rider, and that allowed his teammate, Ryan Morais, to just about pull off the win.

Jake Weimer (19) got a wheel up on the competition right from the start.

Ryan explained, “I was so close I was tasting it. Jake couldn’t jump that double and I’m like, ‘I’m going for it.’ I knew we had a big gap and I was going to try. I think I actually got by him, but then I was on the outside and kind of hit the berm and went up high with that lapper I almost tipped over because I ran into the Tuf-Blocks and was teeter-tottering up there. It was close, but tonight was a really big stepping stone for me. I think I’ve been improving and learning every weekend. Everyone at Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki has made this whole thing possible for me this year and I can’t thank everybody enough.”

With his third win, combined with a fourth-place finish for Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, Jake Weimer now takes over the lead in the Supercross Lites West point standings. After the race, Jake told us, “This is the first time I’ve ever been in the situation to be thinking about a championship. It’s all new to me, and it’s definitely a learning experience for sure. No matter what happens, I’ve learned a lot, and I’m sure I’m going to learn a lot more as it winds down.

“I got into second really quick and was following him (Justin Brayton) around, and he was riding really well. I thought I was a little faster and saw a little opening, and I went for it. I got the pass made, and felt really good. The last couple laps I tensed up a little bit, and we got into lappers and it was winding down, and it was a little nerve- wracking, but just did the best I could and came away with the win.”

Next weekend the series heads to San Diego, and hopefully some drier weather, before heading to the domes of the East coast.